Patriots Journal: Edelman’s out, Stallworth’s in

The Patriots have re-signed veteran WR Donte’ Stallworth. The move was brought on because the injury to Julian Edelman turned out to be serious.

Comment

By
PAUL KENYON
Posted Dec. 4, 2012 @ 5:47 pm

FOXBORO — The Patriots brought back a familiar face at wide receiver Tuesday, although perhaps not the player you might have expected.

The Pats confirmed in late afternoon what had been widely reported for the previous 24 hours, specifically that they have re-signed veteran WR Donte’ Stallworth. The move was brought on because the injury to Julian Edelman turned out to be serious. Edelman suffered a broken foot in Sunday’s game in Miami and has been placed on injured reserve, ending his season.

The signing of Stallworth is a surprise only because Deion Branch remains unemployed. Branch was cut three weeks ago, but his locker at Gillette Stadium remains intact. The decision might mean that Branch, who has been slowed by hamstring problems, still is not ready to play.

After having 10 receivers in camp, Wes Welker and Brandon Lloyd were the only two full-time wideouts on the team. Matthew Slater, the special-teams captain, has played a bit at times.

Jeremy Ebert, this year’s seventh-round draft choice who was cut at the end of training camp, was brought back to the practice squad last week. Another wide receiver, Kamar Aiken, a second-year player out of Central Florida who has spent time with both Buffalo and Chicago this season, also is on the practice squad.

Edelman, who left Sun Life Stadium on crutches Sunday, has 21 catches this year for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also second in the league in punt returns, with an average of 15.5 yards. He is one of only five players in the league with at least three punt returns for touchdowns in the last four seasons. Bill Belichick spoke about Edelman Tuesday.

“Julian’s had an opportunity to contribute offensively and in the kicking game in the games that he’s been able to play in. He missed a few there after the Baltimore game,” the coach noted. “In the kicking game, he’s done a good job for us as a returner. He’s also done a good job for us on kickoff coverage.

“He’s helped us there in the last few weeks, not just the Jets play that kind of popped to him, but by making a number of tackles and doing a good job containing the ball and that kind of thing. Offensively, he’s done a good job with the ball in his hands on screens and routes where he can run it, reverses and screens and things like that.

“He had the big play in the Jet game when we hit him down the middle there on the trap coverage that the Jets missed. He’s worked hard. Julian is a solid, solid guy. He works hard, very good conditioned athlete. He’s versatile and he’s done a number of different things for us,” Belichick said.

Stallworth is a nine-year vet who played for the Pats in 2007 and was signed by the team this year. He had a solid training camp but, with the team so deep in wide receivers at that point, was cut in late August.

In addition to the moves at receiver, the Patriots also released lineman Mitch Petrus and signed linemen Tommie Draheim and Colin Miller to the practice squad.

Go figure

The tiebreaking rules in the NFL are sometimes difficult to follow as Patriots fans are learning this week.

If the season ended today, New England would be the No. 2 seed in the AFC and thus get a first-round bye. The Pats are tied with Baltimore (which beat New England in Week Two) and Denver (which lost to the Patriots in Week Four). League rules do not use how teams did against each other when there is a three-way tie.

The tiebreaker is record within the conference. New England is 8-1, Baltimore 8-2 and Denver 6-2, thus the Pats would get the second seed and the bye. But that obviously is far from final since, among other games, Baltimore and Denver still must play each other.

The scenario that seems difficult for the Patriots is that they could win all of their remaining games, yet lose the second seed. How can a team win out and yet fall backwards? It would happen if Baltimore also won out. That would mean the Ravens would have to beat Denver and thus drop the Broncos out of the picture. The Pats and Ravens would tie and Baltimore would get the higher seed because of its victory over New England.

The same situation could result if the Pats and Ravens end up with four losses and Denver has five or more.

For the Patriots to be the top seed, as they were last season, they would have to win out and Houston would have to lose one more game in addition to Monday’s meeting at Gillette Stadium. The Texans have two games remaining with the Colts, who also are fighting for playoff position.

Early Christmas gift

Ron Brace, Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko and Matthew Slater, spent part of their day Tuesday in Bristol, where they spoke to students at the Rockwell Elementary School about the importance of exercise.

The players also brought a gift with them, a check for $10,000 for the school for use in its physical education program.

It is all part of the NFL’s Play 60 campaign that aims to get all students to take part in physical activity for at least 60 minutes each day. One school from the regions covered by each of the league’s 32 teams is being designated as a “Super School” because of its programs in phys ed.

Joann Waite, a parent and a member of the school’s PTO, nominated the school.

“We were chosen in the area of exercise wellness,” explained Tara McAuliffe, the school principal. The school runs a number of programs, including one in which about 100 children take part in an exercise program before school begins. The school also has a walk-to-school program and another program in which exercise is conducted during the school day.

Light night

The Patriots announced Tuesday that they will honor Matt Light in halftime ceremonies of the game against Houston Monday night.

Light protected Tom Brady’s blind side for 11 years as New England’s left tackle. He helped the Pats win three Super Bowls and play in two others. Light is now working for ESPN.

Fighting cancer

Joe Andruzzi, the former Pats guard who now works in the team’s strength and conditioning program, continues to make a major impact in raising money for cancer patients and their families.

Andruzzi, who beat cancer himself, had a fund rasier Mondy night at Gillette. The New England Celebrities Tackle Cancer Gala raised a record-breaking $500,000 for the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. All all proceeds will be dedicated to helping families cover household expenses during cancer treatment, as well as funding pediatric brain cancer research at Boston Children’s Hospital.